Return to the Mercenaries
I returned to Yuk Eun-hyeong's mercenary corps. There he was, along with his members. They'd built a fire in a pit and were burning something. It looked like the bodies of their fallen comrades. I drew closer and peered at the burning corpses. Thick black smoke billowed up into the sky, staining the clear midday heavens.
How does it feel?
I whipped my head around at the voice echoing from somewhere. Amid the members encircling the pit, Baron Samedi squatted, puffing on a cigar. The pitch-black smoke wafting from the pit mingled with the haze from his cigar. Baron Samedi rose and strode over to me with purposeful steps. He planted himself right beside me.
Sad? Or angry?
"……."
I had no answer for that. Perhaps they didn't have to die. If only Yuk Eun-hyeong had reported to me right away. Or if I'd shown any interest in his mercenary corps—the Gyeongsang Order. If I'd pressed Kang Ji-a harder on why she was heading there. If just one of us had made the right call even once, so many lives might have been spared.
Those thoughts gnawed at me relentlessly. But it wasn't sadness or anger. It was something else—poignant regret, born not from their deaths, but from my own misjudgments and choices. Silently, I gazed down at the corpses charring in the pit. I kept my mask on. No one could read my face.
"Cult Leader, I……."
As the embers faded and the black smoke began to dissipate, Yuk Eun-hyeong approached and spoke up. I could guess what was coming. I nodded and replied.
"You want to tell me you killed one paladin?"
"……."
Yuk Eun-hyeong clamped his mouth shut, unable to respond. I already knew he'd slain the paladin who'd fled. I'd let him escape on purpose—to test Yuk Eun-hyeong. Would he kill or spare the runaway? And if he killed, would he hide it from me or report it straight?
I wanted to know.
"I lost control of my emotions and killed him. I'll pay the price."
"Do you regret it?"
"No regrets."
Yuk Eun-hyeong declared. I nodded.
"What'd you do with the body?"
"Burned it and scattered the ashes in the sea."
"Then it'll count as missing."
I'd fought with care to produce no confirmed kills. A few were left as good as dead, but none died by my hand. I couldn't give the Romanica Church an excuse for reprisal. But a disappearance? No issue there.
A Papal paladin spots the Voodoo Cult Leader, flees, and vanishes. Hardly a tale for the Holy See to trumpet. Public sentiment toward paladins could sour badly—they might hush it up desperately.
"Fine, then. One missing's no big deal."
"……I'll make damn sure no harm comes to the Voodoo Cult or you, Cult Leader. Whatever it takes."
His words meant he was ready to sacrifice himself without hesitation. Solid loyalty burned in his eyes. I had no idea why he was so devoted to the Voodoo Cult. I just nodded and fell silent.
"……."
During the battle, I'd run into So Do-jin and Ha Ye-jin. Seeing them outside school felt off. Not because of the location—it was the anger and fear in their eyes. They weren't looking at Florence's student anymore. They saw the Cult Leader.
I could've struck then, but I held back. With Ha Ye-jin, I did nothing at all—just turned and left. As the Voodoo Cult Leader, they were enemies, sure. But I couldn't see them that way, not really. Yuk Eun-hyeong killed out of raw emotion, and I'd let emotion stop me from finishing So Do-jin and Ha Ye-jin off. No right to judge him, then. Couldn't demand what I couldn't do myself.
"Bury them now."
With the pit's fire extinguished, Yuk Eun-hyeong ordered his men. They nodded and headed off. They returned with shovels in hand. Faces rigid, but no grief—just grim acceptance. Comrades dying was routine for them.
Thud.
The staff in my grip slammed the ground on its own. The earth shuddered. Members clustering around the pit with shovels tumbled. Yuk Eun-hyeong steadied himself and stared.
"Cult Leader……?"
"……."
The fallen and those barely upright gaped at me in panic or dread. The staff pulsed with violet radiance. Voodoo magic drained from my body. I tried prying it loose, but it clung fast—like it had fused with me. It kept sucking my power, spewing purple glow.
Thud—!
Again, it struck. Wind howled. Ashes from the comrades' remains at the pit's bottom whipped upward. Black cinders swirled in the air, blending with the gusts into violet mist.
The mist coiled around the staff. Light and fog merged into one. An enigmatic purple mass formed at the tip. The staff absorbed it. In that instant, my lost magic surged back—more than before, flooding every fiber.
"……."
An ancient tale surfaced: a cult leader wielding the Reverse Staff, unleashing restoration voodoo that reduced all followers to ash before his own doom. I'd brushed it off as myth. But it might be real.
"Yeah, so the snake came out."
"That's right."
Mun Yo-seop listened to his subordinate's report. The paladin unit dispatched to crush Yuk Eun-hyeong's mercenaries had been crushed instead—by the Cult Leader's sudden arrival. The juiciest bit? The snake. The Leader's hurled staff had morphed into one, wiping out the rear firing line. He itched to probe deeper on that, but priority first:
"Ha Ye-jin, who went in my stead—is she okay?"
"Priestess Ha Ye-jin seems fine. She's at the hospital over Crusader So Do-jin."
"Crusader So Do-jin? So Do-jin... Ah, the guy from back then."
Mun Yo-seop recalled him from his Florence visit over Do Seon-woo: sharp-featured hunk, sleek build, sword at his hip.
He nodded. "So Do-jin hurt bad enough she's bedside?"
"Yes."
"Makes sense with the Cult Leader showing. Casualties?"
The subordinate faltered, noted Mun Yo-seop's sharpening gaze, broke into cold sweat.
"……No deaths. One missing, rest injured. That's it."
"Oh? Missing located? Hunting still? Or no chance?"
"Witness saw the missing paladin ditch his weapon and bolt mid-fight. Defection to Voodoo possible."
"No deaths is good. Anything else stand out?"
Subordinate glanced at his phone.
"Crusader captain and half his unit showing mental breakdowns—under care. Other half? All resigned."
"Not good, then. Worse than dead."
Mun Yo-seop smirked. Deaths could've fueled anti-Voodoo rage, pretext for Holy War II. Breakdowns and quits? Leader's spells, probably. To the public? Fear-induced panic. Paladins' rep tanks; trust evaporates. Paladins killed mercs, Voodoo spared paladins—pro-Voodoo spin incoming.
"Too rushed, as I said. My call was spot-on."
He'd opposed the op. Satanists first, not squandering on Voodoo mercs. Vindication brought grim satisfaction. And as Holy Knight Order? Not his people hit.
"That snake, though……."
He drummed the armrest, leaned back. Ceiling swirled with serpentine—or wormy—patterns. Snake, snake. Click.
"……Right."
Florence practicals. Demon hits Kim Jin-seo; snake erupts from earth, fights it off—saves her. This op: Leader summons snake, routs paladins. Same source. Why save her? Missionary trip—thugs at museum gestured for her. Voodoo intervened. Maybe Leader targeted Kim Jin-seo, not Do Seon-woo. Both cults after her. She's tight with Do Seon-woo—link?
"Assume yes. Easier."
Too neat for coincidence. Mun Yo-seop pegged ties between Kim Jin-seo, Do Seon-woo, Voodoo, Satanists.
"Do Seon-woo's phone still tapped?"
"Yes."
"Oddities?"
Subordinate peeked at phone.
"Lots with Seong Ha-yeon, ex-Cardinal Seong Yu-da's daughter. Nothing else."
"Details? Nah, I'll see myself."
Mun Yo-seop bolted to the monitor room—dozens of screens in gloom. He pulled Do Seon-woo's logs. Mostly Ha-yeon texts/calls. Ignores others.
Zoomed on her exchanges. Bland stuff: meetups. But loaded code words. Suspicious as hell—on purpose.
His face set.
"Baiting hard."
Flirting blatant. Knows it's tapped—that's why. Prod him to probe Purification Clan.
"……Cute little schemer."
Obvious ploy. Irresistible.
(To be continued)